As, Hurricane Irma is strengthening its cyclonic current, all the national and international flights across Caribbean Islands are cancelled and the emergency is declared across the northeast Caribbean and the U.S.
Hurricane Irma is now strengthened to a Category 5 storm the officials across the northeastern Caribbean cancelled airline flights, shuttered schools and urged people to hunker down indoors as barrelled toward the region as the Category 5 storm is expected to strengthen more before nearing land.
The state of emergency were declared in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and all of Florida while people on various Caribbean islands boarded up homes and rushed to find last-minute supplies, forming long lines outside supermarkets and gas stations.
The maximum sustained winds of Irma have increased to near 280 kph early. It was centered about 515 kilometers east of the Leeward Islands and moving west at 22 kph.
The authorities warned that the storm could dump up to 25 centimeters of rain, which can cause landslides and dangerous flash floods and generate waves of up to 7 metres.
Irma’s center was predicted to shift near or over the northern Leeward Islands.
The inhabitants on the U.S. East Coast were urged to observe the progress of the winds in case it should turn northward toward Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas.
Evan Myers, chief operating officer of AccuWeather said that the hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. Irma also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of (Hurricane) Harvey.
In the Caribbean Islands, the hurricane warnings were issued for 12 island groups, including the British Virgin Islands, where the governor recommended the local people to vacate the minuscule island of Anegada if they could ahead of the storm.
Vivian Wheatley, proprietor of the Anegada Reef Hotel, planned to stay behind. She said she would stay in one of the hotel rooms and take advantage of the generator since there were no guests.
People in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico suffered for the electricity outages after the director of the island’s power company predicted that hurricane spoil could leave some areas without electricity for four to six months.
Both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are expected about 10 to 20 centimeters of rain and winds of 40-50 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph.
A warning was posted for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Barts, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. and British Virgin islands. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Guadeloupe and Dominica.
